Herakles struggling with the Kerynean hound, to his right, the god Apollo. Scene from a red-figure cup / 480 BCE (Classical Greece)
The third labor of Herakles was to capture the Keryneian Hind, a beast notoriously faster than an arrow.
This particular labor was not about strength, but about speed and patience. Herakles chased the hind on foot for over a year—in Thrace, and as far as Istria in the Adriatic Sea. However, there's more than one legend that tells of its capture. In one version, Herakles caught the hind when it was asleep with a trap-net or a thrown arrow. In another, it was Artemis—whose sacred animal was the hind—who helped Herakles after he told the goddess that he didn't intend on desecrating the animal.
Inspired by The Art of Assassin's Creed Odyssey, by Kate Lewis, with courtesy from Titan Books.
The Greeks have long been known as a naval powerhouse. The development team created multiple ship models, covering the Trireme (with three rows of oars], the bireme (with two), merchant ships and other smaller boats. Historical pop culture sources, including a visit to a life-size replica of a trireme, 3rd century BCE graffiti, depictions on vases and stone relief, and movies like Hercules [1958], Jason and the Argonauts (1963) and many others, all served to inform the design team to create realistic and functional digital replicas of these classic ships.
The color and animal based designs of the ships are also significant. To the far right, the Athenian ship is clear, not just from its blue coloring but also the owl adorning its sail—the owl being the symbol of wisdom, associated with Athena, the protector goddess of Athens. In the center is a darker colored ship common among pirates, to the left a Spartan ship, and in the far left, the smaller and less streamlined ship is a fishing boat.
3D renders of the figureheads featured in Odyssey range from the proud griffin and Pegasos to the terrible hydra and medusa.
Bull's head, reverse type from a drachm of the Euboean league / 304-290 BCE (Hellenistic Greece)
Euboea was an important source of grain and cattle—its name even means "rich in cattle". Knowing this, it isn't that surprising to find depictions of bulls on their coins.
Because of its resources, Euboea was a strategic region to control, and Athens invaded in 506 BCE. The Athenians defeated Chalkis, confiscated the land, and gave it to 4,000 settlers (cleruch) who could retain their Athenian citizenship.
Foundry scene from a red-figure cup showing artisans working / 490-480 BCE (Classical Greece)
Metal workshops of different sizes coexisted in ancient Greece. By the second half of the óth century BCE, the development of armament workshops [ergasteria] employing a few craftsmen or up to a few dozen slaves is quite noticeable. Larger production units soon appeared, making metalworking one of the most lucrative crafts in Classical Greece—at least, it is assumed so by historians. As with many other crafts, metalworking was exclusively practiced by men.
The smallest workshops for local supply might have been comprised of only three workers: one smith, and two slaves to assist him. On the other hand, the largest workshops resembled factories. They could be very large and employ more than fifty slaves. For example, in Athens, on the slopes of the Akropolis, four giant 40-meter-long workshops dating back from 470-440 BCE have been excavated. The Athenian metic Kephalos might have possessed such a weapons workshop, since it was said that he had 120 slaves working for him. By contrast, the metal workshops found in the sanctuary of Nemea are smaller, but they are not necessarily the more common scale.
The overall trend was super-specialization; the sword makers, for example, were not the same as helmet or shield makers. There were doryksoi [lance makers) and machairopoioi, who crafted swords or knives. Helmets workshops could also produce greaves, but the cuirasses, especially the "muscle armors", were manufactured by specific craftsmen. Moreover, in the large workshops, one could assume that all the workers were assigned very narrowly-defined tasks.
Poseidon standing, holding his trident and a fish, scene from a red-figure amphora attributed to the Kleophrades painter / 480 BCE (Classical Greece)
The Bronze Statue of Poseidon at the Archaeological Museum of Athens (National Museum of Athens) depicts either Zeus or Poseidon. It is one of the few remaining original bronze statues from Greece's Classical period, but it is also one of the most impressive.
The statue depicts a thick-bearded, curly-haired god with a muscular, well-detailed anatomy. It is missing its eyes, which were made of a different material—perhaps semi-precious stone or glass. The statue's right hand clutched either a lightning bolt, if it depicted Zeus, or a trident, if it depicted Poseidon. For the purposes of the game, we decided it was Poseidon.
The sculpture was made by an artist of great skill. It's possible it was created by the renowned sculptor Kalamis.
